Henry Francois Farny

Information Coming Soon…Born on July 15, 1847 in Ribeauville, Alsace, France. Due to the rise of the Napoleonic party, the Farny family decamped to the U.S. in 1853. During the six years in Pennsylvania, young Farny got to know the Seneca Indians which began his lifelong fascination with the various tribes. In 1859 he settled in Cincinnati and later worked in New York as an engraver and lithographer for Harper’s. Farny spent three years in Europe in the 1860s during which time he studied in Düsseldorf under Thomas B. Read and Herman Herzog, and traveled about Europe on a study tour with Twachtman and Duveneck. In 1878 he made a thousand-mile canoe trip down the Missouri River. During the 1880s he made numerous sketching trips throughout the West and was active in California during 1885-1900. He became famous for his illustrations and paintings of Indian life. After being adopted by their tribe, the Sioux gave him the name “Long Boots” and the symbol of a circle enclosing a dot. This symbol often accompanies the signature on his paintings. At age 59 he married his 18 year-old ward, Ann Ray. Farny died in Cincinnati on Dec. 23, 1916. Exh: Paris Expo, 1889 (medal); Calif. Midwinter Int’l Expo, 1894. In: Cincinnati Museum; Taft Museum (Cincinnati).

Edan Hughes, “Artists in California, 1786-1940”
Artists of the American West (Doris Dawdy); Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers(Fielding, Mantle); American Western Art (Harmsen); The West As Art cat.